I fell in love with Paris. It was AMAZING. Even though it was probably my busiest weekend trip, I am so glad that we saw everything that we did. We were able to see a lot of Paris in a short amount of time. We went to the Louvre Museum and spent about 5 or 6 hours just staring at the artwork and the historical artifacts that it contained. I was incredibly disappointed in how small the Mona Lisa was though! I thought it was a lot bigger than it really was! It was TINY! My favorite piece throughout the museum was the statue called “Nike.” It was absolutely beautiful! We stumbled upon the Ancient Egyptian part of the museum and saw several sarcophagi along with a mummy that has been perfectly preserved for centuries. It was incredible to see all of these ancient artifacts! We also saw the cathedral of Notre Dame while we were in Paris. The stained glass windows were so beautiful! It was one of the most beautiful churches that I have ever seen.

The next day we decided that we wanted to go see Versailles. We walked around this huge palace and marveled at all of King Louis XIV’s treasures. I had never seen something with this much gold! It was a huge palace and we were overwhelmed by the crowds of people. The Hall of Mirrors was stunning! I had always seen pictures of it, but it was breathtaking to see it in person! We also climbed the Arc de Triomphe and saw an amazing view of the whole city. After the Arc de Triomphe, we decided to head over to the Moulin Rouge area and then over to the Sacré Cœur Basilica. Moulin Rouge was an interesting part of Paris… It’s definitely not a part of town that I would want to spend a particularly long period of time in, especially at night. But Sacré Cœur was really fascinating to see! Though, there were a lot of street vendors that would come up to bother us as we were walking up the steps. That night, we went to a typical French restaurant and I had my first and last taste of escargot. It was disgusting. The taste was not that bad, but the texture was revolting. Never again will I eat escargot. Never. After dinner, we wanted to go see the Eiffel Tower at night because we had heard that it “sparkled.” The first 5 minutes of every hour, the lights on the Eiffel Tower would sparkle. I have to say, it was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip to Paris. It was so cool!!

The next day, we waited in line for about an hour to climb up the Eiffel Tower. While we were waiting in line, me and my friend wanted to reenact the baguette fighting scene from Passport to Paris with MaryKate and Ashley Olsen. We had bought baguettes that morning and had a baguette sword fight in front of the Eiffel Tower and took pictures. Even though there were several French people giving us dirty looks and laughing, it is an experience that I will never forget!

Ciao!
Savannah
Class of 2013

The shortest and yet longest weekend trip of my life was the weekend me and my friend Krissy went to Munich, Germany. The reason why it was the shortest weekend trip was because we only really got 1 full day in Munich to explore the city. But, the reason why it was the longest trip of my life was because of our horrible planning. We booked our flight with the cheap airline called “RyanAir.” Our flight flew into the Frankfurt Hahn airport, when our hostel was in Munich, Germany. We knew we would have to take a bus or a train to Munich, but the moment we got into Frankfurt, we realized we flew into one of the smallest airports we have ever seen. It was smaller than Spokane’s airport! So trying to figure out how to get to Munich was interesting. A factor that worked in our favor was that Germans are some of the nicest people on the planet and are willing to go out of their way to help anyone who looks lost. We found a bus, and took the first one we saw into the main Frankfurt airport. Once we got there, we had to take a train from the Main Frankfurt train station into Munich. Our hostel was right around the block from the Munich train station. By the time we got to our hostel, it was around midnight. So we decided to stay in and get a good night’s sleep so we could explore the city the next day.

The next day, we walked around Munich and visited one of their most famous breweries and beer halls, The Augustiner. We had a typical German meal and our first German beer. People don’t lie when they say that Germans like to drink. We saw some men drinking beers at 9:30 AM and they weren’t homeless! It was very weird to see! Even though we had a blast in Germany, and wish we could go back, our journey back to Florence was absolutely HORRIBLE! We had to take a train at around 2 am from Munich to the Main Frankfurt airport, and then catch a bus from the airport back the Frankfurt Hahn airport. So all in all, we pulled an all nighter just travelling… The bus ride back to the Frankfurt Hahn airport was one of the worst experiences of my life. Somebody got sick on the bus, and had puked. We had to sit on the bus for 2 hours while smelling that horrible smell. But we finally got there, and had a few hours until our flight left. So we ended up sleeping on the floor of the Frankfurt Hahn airport.

Even though we were horrible at planning this weekend trip, I will never forget it. It is a memory that I will always remember because looking back on it now, we can only laugh at ourselves. Studying abroad has taught me so much. This trip taught me that sometimes, things don’t go according to plan, but you just have to go with the flow. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do. But hey, that is just fine with me! :]

Ciao!
Savannah

<img src=”” alt=”My first German beer!” />

<img src=”” alt=”Most beautiful Park I have ever seen! ” />

<img src=”” alt=”YUM!” /><img src=”” alt=”Germans Love the Zags too!” />

Even though I was extremely sad to hear about the shipwreck by Giglio Island off the coast of Italy, I was still extremely curious as to how it had happened. I wanted to learn how such a huge ship had crashed into an island. I wanted to know what happened and I really wanted to see it with my own eyes. So me and a few friends decided to make a day trip out to Giglio Island to check out the shipwreck and visit a new part of Italy. To our surprise, it was quite a hectic trip trying to get from Florence to this little island! First we had to take a train to a city called Grosetto, then another train to a city called Orbetello, and then a ferry ride to Giglio Island. Orbetello was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! The buildings were all a different color and they were all right along the shoreline. The ferry ride made all of us a little bit nauseous, but it was completely worth it once we saw the ship in sight. It was unbelievable! It was HUGE!! I was actually very surprised because the ship was practically on the shoreline of Giglio Island. We were able to get pretty close to the ship and we took a ton of pictures! Even though Giglio Island was struck such a tragic accident, I would love to go back there sometime in the summer. It was beautiful!

<img src=”” alt=”Giglio Island! ” />

<img src=”” alt=”The Ship” />

<img src=”” alt=”So Pretty! ” />

<img src=”” alt=”Orbetello! ” />

Ciao for Now!
Savannah

VENICE!!! Definitely the most unique city I have ever been to! It was so cool! I always had seen Venice in movies and TV shows and stuff, but seeing it in person made me fall in love with it even more! It literally is a city that can only be travelled through with a boat! There are basically a bunch of little islands and you have to take the “city boat” to transport from one little island to the next. Once you get on an island, there are streets like a normal city. It is so cool! We also went to Venice for their famous Carnivale festival! So much fun! It was basically like an Italian Mardi Gras! All of the Venetians spend a huge amount of money getting their costumes together just for Carnivale and then they wear them for hours and pose for the tourists. It is literally like they are celebrities, and the tourists are the paparazzi! All of the tourists also tend to wear masks too! I wore my mask for a few minutes until i realized how annoying they were to wear for long periods of time! When we got to Venice, we took a city boat to San Marco Square, the most famous square in Venice. We walked around for a while and shopped in the little stores on the streets. And I definitely had to buy some more masks! I had to buy a mask in Venice! Venice is a magical place, and I definitely hope to go back someday!!!!

So…. I took a cooking class….in Italy…. SO MUCH FUN! I love cooking at home, so I jumped at the chance when I heard there was a cooking class I could sign up for! It was so much fun to have Italian chefs teach us their ways, and how they cook real Italian food. They taught us how to make stuffed zucchini, pesto lasagna, and tiramisu. SOOO DELICIOUS! We even made our own pasta and used the pasta roller to roll it out. It was such a great experience and I will never forget it! I really want to go back so they can teach me how to make pizza and gelato!!! Hopefully I will have enough time!!!

<img src=”” alt=”My group!” /><img src=”” alt=”Us with the Chefs!” /><img src=”” alt=”Stuffed Zucchini” /><img src=”” alt=”Pesto Lasagna” /><img src=”” alt=”Tiramisu!” />

Ciao for now!
Savannah :]
Class of 2013
Criminal Justice Major

Even though Pompeii was amazing, the whole travelling thing to get there was HORRIBLE. We had to take a train to Sorrento, Italy because we were staying in a bed and breakfast there. We had 2 different addresses for the bed and breakfast so of course we ended up going to the wrong address first…. Oh and of course it had to be raining. It wasn’t just a sprinkle of rain, it was POURING down rain, with lightning, and thunder….Oh yeah and HAIL. 2 hours later we finally made it to our bed and breakfast, soaking wet with our soaking wet backpacks and we finally checked into our room. The hostel was really nice, but our trip was not off to a good start. We took out our clothes from our backpacks only to find that they were soaked as well!! Not good when you only have 3 shirts for the weekend!! The next day, we went to Pompeii and had a blast! The sun was shining, and there was not a cloud in the sky!! We could have spent an entire day there, because there was so much to explore! When we saw the body casts of the people who suffered the eruption of the infamous Mt. Vesuvius, it broke my heart. These poor people did not know what was happening, what to do, or where to go. We went to some other ruins around Pompeii, but they were not nearly as cool. Pompeii was one of the coolest places that I have ever seen. It amazes me how there are still columns standing, that they have been there since 79 AD and survived through one of the most violent volcano eruptions the world has ever seen! That is unbelievable to me! All in all, Pompeii was awesome and I loved it. And now it just makes me laugh to think about our experiences walking through the streets of Sorrento for 2 hours in the rain. :]

On a random day in Florence, a group of us decided to go hike up to the famous Piazza Michelangelo. We had heard that it has the best view of Florence from the top of the hill, so we thought we would go check it out. In order to get to there, we had to cross the Ponte Vecchio and hike up a bunch of stairs. Even though it was a lot of work to get up there, it was completely worth it! We got there right as the sun was setting and we were able to witness the most beautiful sunset that I have ever seen. I literally could not stop taking pictures because every few minutes, the sunset would look different. It was so beautiful! I would have to say that Piazza Michelangelo is one of my favorite places in Florence, and I plan on going back one more time before I leave! Being in Florence makes me realize just how lucky I really am to be able to study abroad! Florence makes me appreciate the little things so much more! Here are some pictures of Italian sunsets!

<img src=”” alt=”Piazza Michelangelo” />

<img src=”” alt=”So pretty! ” />

<img src=”” alt=”The Duomo” />

<img src=”” alt=”Ponte Vecchio!” />

<img src=”” alt=”Gorgeous! ” />

For my first day trip, a few of us went to Siena to explore for a day. It cost us about 6 Euros and 40 cents to take a train there, and the same on the way back. It was about an hour and half train ride there. For being pretty close to Florence, Siena seems so much different! The people seem a little bit more relaxed and friendly compared to the people in Florence. It is not as busy, and everyone seems to enjoy every second of life. It was a relaxing atmosphere for a change! Siena was a beautiful place, and has THE BEST GELATO I have ever had. I have had gelato in a bunch of different places throughout Italy, but I would still say that Siena knows how to make the best gelato!! With a little help from the famous Mr. Rick Steves we were able to navigate through Siena without any problems! It was a fun little day trip, and I am really glad I was able to go!!

Hey Guys!!

The Gonzaga in Florence Program always has an opening tour for it’s students once they arrive in Europe. For this semester, our opening tour was in ROME! I was so excited to finally see the city that I have learned about as a kid! We visited the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trevy Fountain, Michelangelo’s apartment, the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Villa Borghese Museum! It was a FANTASTIC trip!! Even though we were constantly busy, we were able to learn a lot of incredible facts about Rome and the history behind the sites that we visited! Just being able to see all of these incredible sites was so overwhelming! Here are some of the pictures I took while I was in Rome!

Two Words to Describe My First Few Days in Florence: CULTURE SHOCK!

Our first day in Florence was quite interesting. Me and a friend decided to travel together so we didn’t have to go through all of the stressful airports alone. We arrived at the bed and breakfast which was right next door to my pensione. A pensione is basically like a hotel run by an Italian family that the Gonzaga-In-Florence students live in while being abroad. But being at the bed and breakfast was difficult because none of them really spoke any English…We were definitely out of our comfort zones! But we got checked in and went to the room only to fall sleep 5 minutes later. The 9 hour time change was more difficult to get used to than we thought! We were exhausted! We slept for a few hours and woke up a few times. The next morning we got our luggage together and went to find out where we were going to be living for the next four months!! To my surprise, my pensione manager Massimo, is literally the nicest guy I have ever met!! He was so welcoming and helpful with all the questions that I had. And best of all, HE SPOKE ENGLISH!!! He was wearing a Seattle Mariners t-shirt too, which made me feel right at home! It feels great to feel right at home in a foreign country!! Florence is absolutely beautiful and even though I haven’t been here for very long, I know for a fact that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and that I cannot waste a single minute of it!!

-Savannah-